Gambling father who landed in jail starts help project with son

A FATHER and son have launched a project to raise awareness and understanding of gambling after the father ended up in jail as a result of his addiction.

In April 2014 David Bradford, from Sheffield, was jailed for two years for fraud after stealing money from work to pay for an out-of-control addiction to online gambling, made worse by mounting debts and pressure to keep up his façade with his family.

Over 20 years he racked up £500,000 worth of debt, with his family only finding out on the day he was sent to prison.

Mr Bradford’s eldest son Adam, 29, found he had been spending triple his monthly wage on online betting sites and using loans, credit cards and payday lenders to fill the gap.

Once he left prison, the pair formed Safer Online Gambling Group, a charitable organisation which raises awareness and designs innovative solutions to provide support to players and the industry itself. They also developed BetProtect, an app to prevent players becoming addicted.

Yesterday they launched a nationwide programme to educate GPs about the signs of a hidden gambling addiction.

Adam said: “We know as a family and from our extensive field work in this area that early detection is key to getting the right levels of support to prevent a potential addiction from escalating.

“Instead of focusing on political mud slinging and throwing bombs at the gambling industry, we took this opportunity to take practical action in the service of others.

“We hope this avenue will be a welcome addition to the suite of support already available.”